RPS Program Overview

Established in 2002 under Senate Bill 1078, accelerated in 2006 under Senate Bill 107 and expanded in 2011 under Senate Bill 2, California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) is one of the most ambitious renewable energy standards in the country. The RPS program requires investor-owned utilities, electric service providers, and community choice aggregators to increase procurement from eligible renewable energy resources to 33% of total procurement by 2020.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Energy Commission jointly implement the RPS program. The CPUC's responsibilities include:

Determining annual procurement targets and enforcing compliance.

Reviewing and approving each IOU's renewable energy procurement plan.

Reviewing IOU contracts for RPS-eligible energy.

Establishing the standard terms and conditions used by IOUs in their contracts for eligible renewable energy.

For a more comprehensive look at the RPS program, please explore the rest of the website. A description of the Energy Commission's roles can be found on the CEC's RPS website. For information about the renewable energy tracking system, visit the WREGIS website.

The CPUC's glossary is helpful for understanding the many acronyms and terms used on this website.

CPUC Rulemakings

The RPS program is implemented through Commission decisions within the RPS rulemakings. The RPS program is currently implemented through two proceedings:

Current:

R.11-05-005- Continues implementation and administration of the California RPS

Past:

R. 01-10-024 - Established policies and cost recovery mechanisms for generation procurement and renewable resource development

Senate Bill 380 (2008) amends P.U. Code 399.20 to make the feed-in tariff established by AB 1969 applicable to all eligible renewable generators (previously limited to water and wastewater facilities) and increases the program cap to 500 MW (previously set at 250 MW).

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